The 2014 Vintage
It is pleasing to say that the 2014 vintage is shaping up very well! It is certainly the finest since the blockbuster 2010, and was subject to a healthy growing season especially aided by transforming weather in late September, early October, and good yields at harvest. Reports from...

Every 4 years, the nation gets together to share the disappointment of another World Cup campaign and 2014 looks set to go down as a textbook failure from our fearless boys in white. World Cup games do, however, provide a good chance to have dinner and a few drinks. So, last night, the Richard Daw...

8am - Coffee, croissant. 9.30am - Echezeaux 1996. We are definitely in Burgundy. Day 2 kicked off with a visit to Morey St. Denis and a tasting with Alec Seysses at Domaine Dujac. As with many Burgundian cellars, it is mind blowing to comprehend that the cluster of barrels standing before you are su...

As a bit of a Vilmart fan, I was delighted to be invited to visit the property and have lunch with Laurent Champ. The sleepy, snow-covered village of Rilly-La-Montagne seemed a far cry from the madness of Epernay. Arriving at the property, it felt less like a Champagne cellar and more an intimate Bu...

8.30 Monday morning in Burgundy can only mean one thing; a quick trip south of Beaune to taste some whites. We started with a producer new to me in the form of Jean Marc Boillot; a no nonsense Rugby fan who wasn’t short of a few opinions on the state of the game. These wines, especially his whites,...

No, not the boozer in the food mecca that is Bermondsey Street SE1, very different. There had been talk amongst friends of a little pub which carries a ‘bin end’ list with very gentlemanly mark ups, so on a recent trip to Winchester an adventure to The Woolpack Inn was in order. This is a fantastic...

As a very kind birthday gift I was given vouchers for the Ginger Pig, one of the best butchers in London. Rather than buying a mountain of their (exceptional) Toulouse sausages, I decided to splash out on a proper rib of beef. Now I rarely buy beef, as I’m a bit of a stickler for the quality and thi...

After a ferocious 4.30 am alarm followed by a plethora of espresso I joined the team generously compiled by LVMH to visit the hallowed home of Dom Perignon. After a sedate Eurostar we headed towards Epernay in possibly the swankiest minibus available, this was no Ford Transit and luxury seemed to be...